Today in Digital Marketing - Google Cracks Open Pmax Black Box

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Tuesday, November 12th. Today, Google unlocks A-B testing in Performance Max. Advertising in italics could boost your sales by 30%. Pinterest revenue grows, just slower. And Amazon unwraps a digital holiday shopping hub. I'm Steph Gunn sitting in for Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing. But before we get started today,

Starting point is 00:00:29 there are some big changes that could be coming to the podcast and we want to know what you think we could do to get better. So we have a one question survey up at todayindigital.com slash question. The question is easy. It's just if you could change anything about our podcast, what would it be? You can help us out by answering that one question and you could win a $100 Amazon gift card. Google is cracking open the Performance Max black box a tiny bit. Adweek reports that Google has rolled out an A-B testing feature for PMAX, which lets advertisers test how changes, such as updating creative assets or landing pages, impact campaign performance. Google recently announced plans to launch new experiments in Performance Max, which will let

Starting point is 00:01:11 advertisers add more creative assets like images, text, and video for select retailers in beta this month, as well as final URL expansion, which lets Google dynamically select the most relevant landing page. Some advertisers reported having access to the Performance Max optimization experiments feature for more than a month through a whitelist program that provides early priority access. Quoting Adweek, while marketers have been happy to use Google's three-year-old PMAX, they have also criticized its black box nature. Now advertisers can set a base campaign on Performance Max and run an experimental campaign simultaneously, testing elements like creative assets or bidding

Starting point is 00:01:52 strategies, sources said. Once the test begins, Google divides traffic equally between the two campaigns, serving either the base or experimental ad to users across search, display, YouTube, and other Google platforms. After the test period, advertisers can see which campaign performed better. End quote. Is your ad campaign leaning enough to the right? As you finalize your Black Friday campaign, your team might be split over what seems like a small decision. Italic font or not? According to a recent study, that minor change could have a major impact on your sales.

Starting point is 00:02:33 The study found that using italics boosts engagement. Emails with italicized promotions saw a three times higher click rate, and respondents were 30% more likely to make a purchase. The study recommends using italic fonts for special promotions, like discounts or package deals, instead of regular fonts as italics are slanted to the right, which suggests movement forward. According to the study's researchers, this subtle shift is subconsciously linked to moving in time, making promotions in italics feel more urgent. As a result, consumers are more likely to act quickly, sensing that the promotion is nearing its end. Consumers, however, vary in how sensitive they are to deals. Some fear missing out and paying

Starting point is 00:03:16 a higher price later, while others are less influenced, regardless of the font style. Pinterest's revenue push has hit a speed bump. The company recently reported that its third quarter revenue growth slowed to 18% down from earlier gains, even as net income climbed to $30.5 million and user numbers stayed strong. The company had seen growth surpass 20% earlier this year after a sluggish 2023, driven by new features simplifying in-app purchases. Despite cooling revenue growth, Pinterest maintained a 10% increase in global user numbers. However, the company now braces for further slowing in the fourth quarter, projecting growth between 15% and 17%. Pinterest's stock fell nearly 15% after the announcement.

Starting point is 00:04:11 No, Instagram isn't throttling your sponsored posts to make you cough up cash. At least, that's what Instagram head Adam Mosseri says. He recently shut down the myth that the platform deliberately downranks posts tagged as sponsored content in order to force brands to pay for reach. Quoting Mosseri, we don't downrank posts that you mark as sponsored. It helps us understand to know what is sponsored, but it's important for creators to mark things as sponsored without fear of downranking so that they can And while we're on the topic of paying to boost reach, Instagram has expanded its post-boosting options to include more post types. Previously, posts with GIFs, stickers, or copyrighted music were ineligible for boosting

Starting point is 00:05:00 due to system limitations and copyright restrictions. But now, Instagram says most GIFs and stickers can be boosted. Keep in mind that it's most, not all posts, and it's still unclear what will qualify for boosting. However, if you've struggled to boost some of your top performing organic posts in the past, now might be the time to revisit them. Google has released version 2.8 of the Google Ads Editor, its free app for managing ad campaigns. The update brings several new features, including AI-generated images, export to Google Sheets, an updated help center, and more. Other key updates include brand guidelines support for Performance Max, image cropping tools, enhanced video controls, and improved inventory controls for video campaigns,

Starting point is 00:05:50 as well as third-party measurement settings previously available only for video campaigns are now extended to Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns. Also, strict age and gender targeting options. Google also deprecated demand gen product feed campaigns in version 2.8, converting them to standard demand gen campaigns, and no new ones can be created. As the holiday shopping season ramps up, Amazon has launched a 3D virtual holiday shop where customers can watch content and browse new products. The shop includes a dedicated virtual toy shop featuring products from brands like Play-Doh, Lego, and Disney. Throughout the season, Amazon plans to update its product selection in the virtual shop with hundreds of items. You know what they say, there's no place like Amazon for the holidays. I'm currently dealing with a very snotty toddler and it's always

Starting point is 00:06:49 scary when they get a runny nose because you don't know if it's teething or if they are getting sick for like the 900th time of the year and they're going to take you down with them. I'm hoping it's just teething. Don't sleep on our email newsletter. It's free, it's daily, and it's packed with everything from the podcast, plus some juicy extras like links, videos, and charts. You can hit the link in the show notes or visit todayindigital.com slash newsletter to join. Thanks for listening.

Starting point is 00:07:15 I'm Steph Gunn. Todd is away this week, which means I will talk to you tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - Google Cracks Open Pmax Black Box

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